The issue that our group decided to focus on is, nutrition in schools. This issue is very important because many children today are being diagnosed as clinically obese. Some ideas that my group has decided to focus on are how does being obese affect children socially, how does it impact their health, how does the school's nutrition effect the student body, does obesity effect student achievement and lastly, what are schools doing to prevent childhood obesity. It is obvious that children are developing major health problems such as asthma and diabetes from being overweight. Children who are obese are affected not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. There are many efforts being taken by individuals and the schools as a whole. One effort that is being taken by numerous schools is that schools are offering healthier items on their menus for children. Also, multiple schools have put into effect the obesity laws. By doing this all junk foods such as sodas, chips and candies are being removed from school's vending machines and are being replaced with healthier options such as water and low in fat and calorie foods.
II. Research Summary
Danielle:
My area of research focused on the social aspect. My specific research question is how does the affects of obesity affect children socially. I found a lot of great information on my topic. The articles that I found discussed how children who are obese or overweight suffer from low self-esteem, they do not have a close network of friends or any close friends for that matter. Most overweight children tend to be loners and are fixated on trying to fit in. Socially overweight children are excluded and made fun of. They are abused both physically and verbally by their normal-weight peers. A lot of times they are called names, bullied and have rumors and derogatory comments made about them because they are considered different.
Ellen:
The part of my assignment which I did, focus on the school prevention of obesity in school. My research question was what are schools doing to prevent obesity? Some of the focus of the school, ways of preventing obesity from happening are by the limitation of soft drink in school. Creating a game which would continue in the future, as kid attend high school and become more active while growing up. Creating program within school, where students can stay away from home, attending a after school activity,and away from watching television .Also allowing nutritious food in school where children would eat healthy.
Dan:
My subtopic for our research focused on if and how school lunch programs effect the obesity of children and, in some cases, their performance. How does school's nutrition effect the student body? Although, schools participate in having healthy meals for their students i learned most schools also still have many unhealthy foods that most of the kids eat. Also, high sugar intake during lunch results in poor academic achievement after lunch. From the articles i read i have concluded that poor eating habits from school lunch programs directly result in student unhealthiness.
Sarah:
My research area that I focused on for this project was how obesity can effect young childrens health. Many children do not eat right and do not get the physical activity in their everyday life. These things can lead to a very unhealthy lifestyle and can cause physical, emotional and mental health issues. Spreading the word to young students at the elementary level about obesity and eating right is essential to having these children life a healthy life. Overall, obesity can effect any person's health in numerous ways and more people need to be informed of the effects that could follow if they don't watch what they eat.
Caroline:
My area of research that I chose to focus on was; how obesity can impact student achievement. Obesity and health can be a problem when speaking about how students achieve academically in school compared to students who are physically fit. Obesity can impact a students performance not only physically but also mentally in a classroom setting. Students who are obese are at greater risk for learning difficulties then students who are healthy and in a better position to learn. Those who are physically fit excel in school while those who are obese have a hard time maintaining good grades. There is little research available concerning physical activity and obesity with academic achievement.
II. Group Product Overview
Our team is planning to introduce our topic in a way that is organized, creative, and enjoyable for the audience. We are planning to teach the class about our topic with each member first introducing their sub-topics. After each person has spoken about their individual topic we hope to introduce a game that incorporates what has been learned in the lesson. This game will test the class on what they have learned and gained from this presentation as well as taking it one step further in allowing them to think about what has just been discussed. Questions will be asked to both teams based on the information that each group member provides allowing time for a discussion among team members and finally an answer. Once finished, prizes will be awarded to the winning team.
III. Visual Representation
IV. Research Questions and Reference Summaries
Main Question: How do nutrition programs in elementary schools affect students?
Now that you've researched your issue, discuss your results and write two paragraphs expressing your opinions. The first paragraph should explain the majority opinion. The second paragraph should summarize other opinions held by team members about the issue.
Childhood obesity is a rapidly growing problem among children in elementary schools. Students in these schools are not eating correctly, aren’t getting enough exercise, and are not choosing the right times to eat. Students at this age should be eating three correct portion sized meals a day, take part in vigorous physical activities, and be eating at the right times of the day. There are many factors that could help lower the number of these young children in our schools. At lunch, students should be given the choice of a hot meal that consists of nutritious foods. Students should be given enough time to get physical activity into their day in order to burn off calories. Students also should be eating three meals a day and not be snacking at night before they go to bed when the food just sits in their stomach.
In my opinion, child obesity really is a growing problem that needs to be taken care of in order to keep our children healthy. If students start these eating habits at a young age, they can develop bigger problems as they grow older such as diabetes, problems with their heart, etc. We need to start doing whatever we have to do in order to keep these young children healthy even if it means schools opening a breakfast program, getting children involved with after school activities to get their physical activity in for the day, changing the school's lunch menu's to make the food more nutritious, etc. No matter what lengths we need to go to, schools need to reach these standards in order to help children develop healthy eating habits. -Sarah
I agree with Sarah as well. Most of the overweight children and obese children have been developing numerous health problems, ranging from diabetes, asthma, and enlarged hearts. These are serious problems that have not been seen in young children until recent years when children started to become obese. Children need to be pushed in every way possible at school and at home to help keeps them healthy and fit. More healthy choices should be available at schools and physical education programs should stop being cut and made more fun so children will want to actually participate. I think that the school breakfast program is a very good idea because a lot of children don't eat breakfast or their families don't have the money. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and children need to eat it in order to get their energy for the rest of the day.-Danielle
My opinion concerning childhood obesity is that it is a enormous problem that must be dealt with before it gets any more serious. Children must find the time to go out and become active in order to prevent these terrible health problems. It has come to my attention that not enough children remain active all year round especially during the winter and those cold months. Children are instead staying inside where it is warm and sitting around becoming a bit too comfortable in their environment. Another reason I believe to be one of the causes of childhood obesity is the lack of children getting all three meals and instead eating snacks that are high in calories and sugars. I believe if we decrease the amount of snacks that children are consuming and instead replace them with the correct amounts of each food group then we could rid childhood obesity all together. ~ Caroline
I agree with my team members, I belief that obesity is a problem in American , especially in school. The only ways these issue are going to be solved if the school board change the curriculum. One way which that can occur would be by changing the meal plan in school and limiting soft drink such as soda and other beverages that has high calories,also by cutting down the amount of food that students are receiving during lunch. The school can also tried to inform the parents about what going on within the school,and find way that parents can also participate with the schools to prevent obesity. The school could created activity where students could be active while in school and out. Obesity has become a problem in America, but it most stop within the schools.
~ Ellen
VI. Notes for Next Year's Students
Based on your classmate's feedback after your presentation, write a paragraph that informs students in next year's class about what topics related to your presentation that you think deserve their attention.
I think that students in next year's class should focus on what is it in foods that makes children gain weight so fast. I think that that would be interesting to learn how the specific foods affect children's bodies both in a positive and a negative way. This would be a great question related to our presentation that would help tie the presentation on nutrition in schools and the affects on children's bodies all together.
School Nutrition
I. Description of Problem or Issue
The issue that our group decided to focus on is, nutrition in schools. This issue is very important because many children today are being diagnosed as clinically obese. Some ideas that my group has decided to focus on are how does being obese affect children socially, how does it impact their health, how does the school's nutrition effect the student body, does obesity effect student achievement and lastly, what are schools doing to prevent childhood obesity. It is obvious that children are developing major health problems such as asthma and diabetes from being overweight. Children who are obese are affected not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. There are many efforts being taken by individuals and the schools as a whole. One effort that is being taken by numerous schools is that schools are offering healthier items on their menus for children. Also, multiple schools have put into effect the obesity laws. By doing this all junk foods such as sodas, chips and candies are being removed from school's vending machines and are being replaced with healthier options such as water and low in fat and calorie foods.
II. Research Summary
Danielle:My area of research focused on the social aspect. My specific research question is how does the affects of obesity affect children socially. I found a lot of great information on my topic. The articles that I found discussed how children who are obese or overweight suffer from low self-esteem, they do not have a close network of friends or any close friends for that matter. Most overweight children tend to be loners and are fixated on trying to fit in. Socially overweight children are excluded and made fun of. They are abused both physically and verbally by their normal-weight peers. A lot of times they are called names, bullied and have rumors and derogatory comments made about them because they are considered different.
Ellen:
The part of my assignment which I did, focus on the school prevention of obesity in school. My research question was what are schools doing to prevent obesity? Some of the focus of the school, ways of preventing obesity from happening are by the limitation of soft drink in school. Creating a game which would continue in the future, as kid attend high school and become more active while growing up. Creating program within school, where students can stay away from home, attending a after school activity,and away from watching television .Also allowing nutritious food in school where children would eat healthy.
Dan:
My subtopic for our research focused on if and how school lunch programs effect the obesity of children and, in some cases, their performance. How does school's nutrition effect the student body? Although, schools participate in having healthy meals for their students i learned most schools also still have many unhealthy foods that most of the kids eat. Also, high sugar intake during lunch results in poor academic achievement after lunch. From the articles i read i have concluded that poor eating habits from school lunch programs directly result in student unhealthiness.Sarah:
My research area that I focused on for this project was how obesity can effect young childrens health. Many children do not eat right and do not get the physical activity in their everyday life. These things can lead to a very unhealthy lifestyle and can cause physical, emotional and mental health issues. Spreading the word to young students at the elementary level about obesity and eating right is essential to having these children life a healthy life. Overall, obesity can effect any person's health in numerous ways and more people need to be informed of the effects that could follow if they don't watch what they eat.Caroline:
My area of research that I chose to focus on was; how obesity can impact student achievement. Obesity and health can be a problem when speaking about how students achieve academically in school compared to students who are physically fit. Obesity can impact a students performance not only physically but also mentally in a classroom setting. Students who are obese are at greater risk for learning difficulties then students who are healthy and in a better position to learn. Those who are physically fit excel in school while those who are obese have a hard time maintaining good grades. There is little research available concerning physical activity and obesity with academic achievement.II. Group Product Overview
Our team is planning to introduce our topic in a way that is organized, creative, and enjoyable for the audience. We are planning to teach the class about our topic with each member first introducing their sub-topics. After each person has spoken about their individual topic we hope to introduce a game that incorporates what has been learned in the lesson. This game will test the class on what they have learned and gained from this presentation as well as taking it one step further in allowing them to think about what has just been discussed. Questions will be asked to both teams based on the information that each group member provides allowing time for a discussion among team members and finally an answer. Once finished, prizes will be awarded to the winning team.
III. Visual Representation
IV. Research Questions and Reference Summaries
Main Question: How do nutrition programs in elementary schools affect students?
V. Group Reaction/Opinion(s) about Issue
Now that you've researched your issue, discuss your results and write two paragraphs expressing your opinions. The first paragraph should explain the majority opinion. The second paragraph should summarize other opinions held by team members about the issue.Childhood obesity is a rapidly growing problem among children in elementary schools. Students in these schools are not eating correctly, aren’t getting enough exercise, and are not choosing the right times to eat. Students at this age should be eating three correct portion sized meals a day, take part in vigorous physical activities, and be eating at the right times of the day. There are many factors that could help lower the number of these young children in our schools. At lunch, students should be given the choice of a hot meal that consists of nutritious foods. Students should be given enough time to get physical activity into their day in order to burn off calories. Students also should be eating three meals a day and not be snacking at night before they go to bed when the food just sits in their stomach.
In my opinion, child obesity really is a growing problem that needs to be taken care of in order to keep our children healthy. If students start these eating habits at a young age, they can develop bigger problems as they grow older such as diabetes, problems with their heart, etc. We need to start doing whatever we have to do in order to keep these young children healthy even if it means schools opening a breakfast program, getting children involved with after school activities to get their physical activity in for the day, changing the school's lunch menu's to make the food more nutritious, etc. No matter what lengths we need to go to, schools need to reach these standards in order to help children develop healthy eating habits. -Sarah
I agree with Sarah as well. Most of the overweight children and obese children have been developing numerous health problems, ranging from diabetes, asthma, and enlarged hearts. These are serious problems that have not been seen in young children until recent years when children started to become obese. Children need to be pushed in every way possible at school and at home to help keeps them healthy and fit. More healthy choices should be available at schools and physical education programs should stop being cut and made more fun so children will want to actually participate. I think that the school breakfast program is a very good idea because a lot of children don't eat breakfast or their families don't have the money. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and children need to eat it in order to get their energy for the rest of the day.-Danielle
My opinion concerning childhood obesity is that it is a enormous problem that must be dealt with before it gets any more serious. Children must find the time to go out and become active in order to prevent these terrible health problems. It has come to my attention that not enough children remain active all year round especially during the winter and those cold months. Children are instead staying inside where it is warm and sitting around becoming a bit too comfortable in their environment. Another reason I believe to be one of the causes of childhood obesity is the lack of children getting all three meals and instead eating snacks that are high in calories and sugars. I believe if we decrease the amount of snacks that children are consuming and instead replace them with the correct amounts of each food group then we could rid childhood obesity all together. ~ Caroline
I agree with my team members, I belief that obesity is a problem in American , especially in school. The only ways these issue are going to be solved if the school board change the curriculum. One way which that can occur would be by changing the meal plan in school and limiting soft drink such as soda and other beverages that has high calories,also by cutting down the amount of food that students are receiving during lunch. The school can also tried to inform the parents about what going on within the school,and find way that parents can also participate with the schools to prevent obesity. The school could created activity where students could be active while in school and out. Obesity has become a problem in America, but it most stop within the schools.
~ Ellen
VI. Notes for Next Year's Students
Based on your classmate's feedback after your presentation, write a paragraph that informs students in next year's class about what topics related to your presentation that you think deserve their attention.I think that students in next year's class should focus on what is it in foods that makes children gain weight so fast. I think that that would be interesting to learn how the specific foods affect children's bodies both in a positive and a negative way. This would be a great question related to our presentation that would help tie the presentation on nutrition in schools and the affects on children's bodies all together.